The Transformation
by ThunderbirdLaith
Summary: James, Sirius, and Peter make up their minds to become Animagi, however, it might be a struggle...
1. Day 0

Day 0

"Are you sure about this?" Peter scurried behind the two boys, shuffling worriedly.

"Yes, Peter," Sirius said, slinging his arm around the boy's shoulders.

"We've gotta do this," stated James matter-of-factly. "It's for Moony. We just have to."

"Yeah," agreed Sirius. "He won't let us help him while we're human, so the only way we can help him is in a different form. Old Minnie McGee did say that someone in their Animagus form wouldn't be infected by a werewolf if bitten or scratched."

"So, what are we doing exactly?" Peter squeaked.

"We're going to steal mandrake leaves from the Herbology classroom," James explained patiently. "That's how you transform – keeping a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month."

Sirius flapped his hand in front of them. "Shh – someone's coming!"

All three boys kept walking, grinning stupidly, as another student walked by.

As soon as they arrived at the Herbology classroom, Peter stationed himself by the door, and James and Sirius went to work finding the Mandrake plants.

"Sirius!" James hissed. "I think I found it."

Sirius hurried over to James. "Yep, that's it," he said. "Start grabbing."

"Should I take just three, or some extra?" James had several leaves in one hand, the other prepared to take more.

"Take three, because they'll wilt if we take extra now."

"Okay, Paddy," said James. "Let's go."

As they hurried back to the common room, they laughed manically. It wasn't one of their usual pranks, but they still got the rush of breaking the rules.

That night, they sat in their dorm room. They were the only three awake, and they sat in the window waiting for midnight. Each of them held the mandrake leaves, and they sat in a rare silence, contemplating what they were about to do.

As the clock chimed midnight, each of them met eyes, and with a single nod, they placed the mandrake leaves on their tongues.

 _For Remus,_ their eyes said.


	2. Day 1

Day 1

The day had barely begun, and the three boys were already exhausted.

"I'm so tired," complained Peter.

James ran a hand through his hair. "Well," he said with a smirk, "it is kind of hard to go to sleep with a leaf in your mouth."

"What about breakfast?" Sirius asked. Swooning dramatically, he fell to the ground. "I don't think I'll be able to go on if we can't eat."

"Come on," James laughed, pulling Sirius back up to his feet. "Plus, I definitely need something to wash out the taste of this leaf."

"So," Sirius said around his leaf, "how are we going to go about classes?"

"What do you mean?" Peter inquired.

"You can really tell we have something in our mouths," Sirius pointed out.

"So do we need to just not speak?" Peter asked.

James and Sirius exchanged a glance.

"Maybe that is the answer after all," James said with a mischievous look.

* * *

Their first class of the day was Transfiguration, with good old McGonagall. They were, per usual, the last ones in class. Sirius slid into his desk next to Remus, and James and Peter sat next to him. Today, however, the three had small chalkboards in their hands, and several pieces of chalk among the three of them. Remus looked over with a glance, but dismissed their antics.

"Today, we will be Transfiguring these pincushions into hedgehogs. You have the entire class to practice. Please come see me if you come across any problems." McGonagall turned, at sat down at her desk in the front of the room. Student chatter began to spread, with the exception of Peter, Sirius, and James. Remus began to poke his wand at the pincushion.

"Aren't you guys going to even try to mess with these pincushions?" Remus turned towards the three other Marauders, who each scrawled out _"NO"_ on each of their chalkboards. "Are you gonna tell me what's going on here?" Remus asked suspiciously.

Three boards with _"NOTHING"_ written turned to Remus.

"Fine," Remus said, turning back to his pincushion.

But by this point, their antics had caught McGonagall's attention, and she swept down the aisle until she arrived at their desk.

"What's going on here?" she asked sharply, as only a professor can.

James, Sirius, and Peter turned their chalkboards towards her, the last message still displayed proudly.

"A vow of silence, I assume?"

Peter nodded enthusiastically, while James and Sirius grinned at her.

"And what, may I ask, has inspired this vow of silence?" McGonagall looked over her glasses at the three boys attempting for innocent smiles.

There was a pause as the three of them wrote down their answers.

 _James inspired me,_ Peter wrote.

 _Sirius inspired me,_ James wrote.

 _You inspired me, Ol' Minnie McGee!_ Sirius had written, and he held his board especially proudly with a broad grin.

McGonagall sighed, turning towards the only Marauder she thought could have a normal answer from. "Mister Lupin, can you tell me exactly what is happening here with your peers?"

Remus sighed, rubbing his temples. "If I figure it out, you'll be the first to know."

McGonagall heaved another sigh, and she headed back towards her desk, figuring that she would just ignore whatever was happening until it became a larger issue.

James, Sirius, and Peter high-fived each other under the desk, and sat through the rest of class in their silence.


	3. Day 2

Day 2

"Well," James said around his leaf, "today went about as well as expected."

"I don't know what you're doing, and I know any advice I try to give will just be ignored at this point, but I don't know that this is such a good idea," said Remus exasperatedly. "Although, I will admit, your relative silence does bring some manner of peace."

Sirius slung his arm around Remus. "Does it even really matter at this point?"

"I guess not," Remus said. "Now, I'm going to the library to work, and _get out of my face, Sirius,_ your breath smells _disgusting_! I don't even want to know anymore," he sighed, leaving the room quickly.

"Alright, men, we need to have a serious talk," said James as soon as the dormitory door closed behind Remus.

"S-serious?" Peter squeaked.

"Yes, Peter?" Sirius said with a smirk.

James smacked Sirius lightly. "We need to talk about an issue with these leaves."

Sirius nodded. "I know what you mean," he said seriously.

 _"These leaves taste disgusting!"_ James and Sirius shouted.

Sirius took a contemplative position, with his eyes closed and his hand on his chin, deep in thought. "We need to find some way to eradicate this horrible taste," he said. "I can hardly bear to go about my normal activities with such a disgusting taste in my mouth." He dramatically fell to the floor, hand on his forehead.

Peter nodded. "I can hardly eat anything with such a lingering taste," he noted. "Even cheese has been ruined! Cheese!"

"And Lily!" James cried. "She'll never agree to kiss me if she can smell the leaf! It smells like something died in our mouths, and it's only the second day!"

"We need to find something that will at least help the taste and smell go away," Sirius said. "And there's only one person that would have a chance of knowing."

The three boys exchanged glances.

"Well," James said nervously, "looks like we'll have to go talk with McGonagall."


End file.
